SIGN FOR HIGHWAY. 117 



turn and fight. Cheney was away at the time — but 

 on returning at evening, he heard his dog barking 

 furiously in the woods, and taking down his rifle, 

 went to him, and shot the bear. 



Next morning we plunged again into the forest, and 

 as we rode along, I noticed trees at certain intervals, 

 marked " H," which, after vainly attempting to ac- 

 count for, I finally enquired the reason of. " Oh, it 

 means highway" was the reply. This was a rather 

 comical mode of telling one he was on the highway, 

 still I was thankful for the information. In another 

 place we came upon fires built over a huge rock in 

 the middle of the track, compelling us to take a semi- 

 circle in the woods. On inquiring the cause of this, 

 to me, singular procedure, I was told that settlers, 

 hired by the State, were working on the road, and in 

 the absence of drills, took this method of breaking the 

 rocks to pieces. Being sand-stone, the fire slowly 

 crumbled them apart, so that the crowbar or lever 

 could remove them. I thought of Hannibal, and his 

 fire and vinegar on the rocks of the San Bernard ; and 

 men seemed going back to their primitive state. In- 

 stead of cutting down the trees that stood in the way, 

 they hewed off the roots, and then hitching a rope to 



